- Things are a way of learning about world around us and are repositories of meaning that

changes over time.

- Museums – things that have accumulated evidence of passage throughout world – journey
of things interrupted and changed via entry into museum. Things evoke meaning and
representations.

Michael Aird

- Anthropology has some implication in historical discrimination.

- Visual stories – Photography
o Paperwork, photographs can be museum – everyone can play role in documenting
history in this way
o Getting to know people such as grandparents through photographs
o Allows you to resurrect history through photographs
 E.g. Cultural performances in Aboriginal society
 Photos of young people performing traditional songs
 Happens at political events today due to change in culture
 Photos represent change in culture
 Tells story of how aboriginal people can flourish
 A lot of culture is retained
o Continuity in culture but difference in audience
o Some aspects of culture have become commercialised
 Generational change in how cultural performances are lived
o Legitimizes stories of cultures
o Aboriginals did not have say of how culture was portrayed until end of 1980s
 Only after generations graduated were institutions challenged in the way
culture was portrayed
 Many changes were recent and the process is ongoing
o Defining anthropology
 Changing from cultures describing others

Written on the body – material culture through juxtaposition of household items -19, 20, 21 century

- Denial of humanity that writing on implies

- Writing embodies history of transit
- Record of colonial history on objects – echoed in museum collections
- Kitchen implements and museum collection destabilises spaces between things
o Juxtaposition of objects in relation to others
 Material culture – Things make people and people make things
 Mutual relationship
- Modern aboriginal axe – made prior to 1917
o New axe blade incorporated into timber handle
o Next to stone head axe
 Things made new transformations in social lives possible
o Modern meant something different before than now
o Kitchen implements – have connection between human and thing – the thing helps
make people’s identity/memories
- Bowl for carrying water – shallow dish – winnowing dish
- Egg saucepan, storage jar, dish
 - Stone tools with cake tins & saucepan lid
o Different ways of making food & relationship between them
- Writing on involves denial of humanity and agency

Museum Project

- How things are categorised, represented and displayed

- Think of thing that has emotive value, think of thing in museum in 40 years without story
and history – represents aspect of society
- 2 things that show history, usage and/or significance
o E.g. implements used for food preparation such as saucepan
o Attach label such as saucepan – used for serving (no longer than 20 words) to